Masks of War
by SDZero
Summary: Final Chapter - Yup it's over but isn't an ending just a new begining? All reviews accepted, wanted, even begged for.
1. Default Chapter

This is my first KP fanfic, I need desperately that you give any review, ill accept anything you can give  
  
(Don't own KP, if I did, I'd be in a hot tub in Maui and not writing this FanFic but on to the story)  
  
Masks of War  
Chapter 1  
  
Kim and the other cheerleaders were just finishing up their Friday afternoon practice with Bonnie leading the crew as the Kimmunicator in her duffle bag began ringing. Kim smiled timidly to others and trotted off as the other girls just shrugged it off; usually this would happen right in the middle of practice but since they're already done there wasn't anything to be upset about. Kim plunged her hand into the baby blue bag, shuffling through the clothes she changed out of to get into her skimpy uniform. Finally her fingers brushed against the hard plastic and she grasped it tightly, freeing it and her hand from the darkness inside her duffle bag.  
  
"What's the sitch Wade?" Kim asked after pressing her thumb on the receive button. Her voice rang with a gentle calm since this was the end of practice and none of the girls were giving her dirty looks.  
  
Wade took a quick sip from a Beuno Nacho soft drink cup before looking straight into his Kimmunicator cam. "Hey KP, where's Ron?" he asked.  
  
Kim shrugged lightly. "I told Ron I'd cover him today so he skipped practice to hang out with Zita at the mall. What's wrong anyway?"  
  
"Well, it seems there's some strange string of robberies and vandalism all coming from the same city for the last few days."  
  
Kim raised her eyebrow, feeling a little lost. "Robbery and vandalism; Wade are you feeling alright? This all sounds like something that should be handled by local law enforcement. Don't you have anything like Drakken stealing an earthquake machine or something like that?"  
  
Wade looked at one of his monitor screens. "Usually I'd agree with you but I fell this is more important than the other small jobs that are usually filling up you site's mailbox. These crimes are all being committed in the Lower, Middle, and Upperton tri-city area."  
  
"What?! Are you sure, I didn't hear anything about this."  
  
"Well, I did some data crunching and I think you might not have heard anything yet because all these crimes are happening in the more. lower income areas but they all follow a certain pattern which leads me to believe their connected."  
  
"So I take down whoever are doing this, this new wave of crimes will stop right?"  
  
Wade gave a thumbs-up with his chubby digit. "You got it KP, here's a print out of some of the more major hits."  
  
While KP went out, investigating this sudden crime wave, Tara looked back in surprise as she heard a whistle from behind, her blonde hair swung momentarily over her face. Behind her was a tall, strangely pale skinned man in black leather with short black hair and a grin on his face. "Now you are one beautiful piece of art," he said in a soothing voice.  
  
Tara shot a cold look and turned her back to him. She snapped out a quick "Jerk!" and walked away.  
  
The leather-clad lad dashed forward, walking backward once he got past Tara. "Please, my sweet, I simply want to display how much I appreciate your beauty."  
  
She glared at his pasty-skinned face, into his eyes with the red pupils. "You're just some punk, the clothes are a dead give away."  
  
He responded by forcing his face into an offended expression. "How could you judge me by my clothes? That's wrongful profiling; I mean, I don't think you're a tease by wearing that skimpy outfit."  
  
"I'm a cheerleader; this is what all cheerleaders wear to practice."  
  
"And this is I wear when I ride my speed bike, it protects my body incase I spill out and roll on the ground." This made Tara stop; her face gave sign that she was willing to hear him out. He smiled in appreciation for her gesture. "I'm Adrian, nice to meet you."  
  
She sighed in defeat and smiled cheaply. "Tara."  
  
"Tara."  
  
"Adrian."  
  
"Are you busy right now? I want to take you out to lunch, anywhere you want."  
  
Tara looked unsure. "I really shouldn't. I don't know that much about you. But why not, sure, I'll let you buy me lunch."  
  
Meanwhile. at Diamond Dave's pawn shop on the grungy side of Middleton.  
  
Kim, decked out in her mission uniform, used her Kimmunicator's spectral analyzer around the shattered glass of the busted display cases as a weasely-faced Diamond Dave waited impatiently at the locked entrance of the dingy, poorly-lit store. "Hmm." Kim mused to herself. "No hair, no skin flakes, not much to go on in the sense of any DNA evidence." She flipped off the analyzer and turned to the slim, greasy haired shop owner. "Are you sure you didn't see who did this Mr. Dave?"  
  
The sickly looking store owner snarled and stormed behind his counter. "I already told you no! The real authorities already checked my store's security tapes and they couldn't identify any of the thieves but I suspect they were all high school students."  
  
Kim almost lost composure but she kept her calm and approached the sleazy slime bag. "Let me see the tape, I'll find out who robbed your store." Dave was reluctant but even he couldn't deny the world renowned Kim Possible for free help. He unlocked the locks to his office door and played the security tape on a small, black and white closed circuit TV. The tape began at about 1 in the morning, right when half a dozen robbers in ski-masks broke in through the wood and glass door of the front entrance and began smashing display cases and shoveling valuables into sacks. They were smart, they all wore gloves on their hands and didn't expose tattoos or scars that could give them away. After they're late night shopping, all the thieves fled the shop just as a man in all black stepped into lobby and looked straight into the camera. Kim almost jumped back in surprise, it wasn't that she felt he was looking right at her; it was because he wasn't wearing a ski-mask like the others but a strange, demon looking mask instead. He took a blade from his side, pointed the tip right at the camera lens, reeled it back over his shoulder, and slice right through it. There was only static after that.  
  
Kim was glad more the happy to leave the sleazy pawn shop with what little information she'd acquired until she noticed something odd about one of the display items that seem to still be in it's proper position. She didn't say anything but she found it strange that a knock-off brand Rolec watch would be priced over 50 bucks. She got the same round around with Big Paul's used cars; masked thugs, lots of property damage and the security tape being cut short by a demon-masked swordsman. "So. you can find the punks that did this right?" asked a sweaty, beady eyed Big Paul.  
  
Kim sighed heavily and turned to the three-haired tubby car vendor. "I'm not getting much information to go on. Are you sure there's nothing else that could help?"  
  
Big Paul rubbed his plump, moist fingers on his chins. "Well. they did tag the yellow sedan out front. It was a quality vehicle before they defiled it."  
  
Now there was a lead. When Kim went out to investigate, the only yellow sedan she found was missing 3 hubcaps, rusted on the roof and the bumper was slightly crooked. Regardless, Kim found the tag; a Japanese kanji she captured using the Kimmunicator's optical eye, sending it straight to Wade's computer. "Hey. is that price accurate?" Kim asked, pointing at the front windshield sporting the price of $9,300.  
  
Big Paul looked insulted. "It's a fair price! This is a quality car!"  
  
Kim gave an annoyed look and put her hand on her hip. "So not!"  
  
The fat sleaze suddenly threw his hands in the air. "What do you know about cars? Get out of here! Beat it!" Kim just rolled her eyes and walked away.  
  
Ron stared lazily at his Bueno Nacho Naco platter as Rufus had half- buried himself into a grande-sized chimerito. Ron had just spent his day away from school with Zita at the movie theater she worked in and completely missed a perfect opportunity to take the big step from friend to boyfriend; darting his hand awkwardly into the bag of popcorn just before he was able to place it over Zita's. He was beating himself up over a moment while Rufus was seizing his moment by devouring the inner content of the chimerito. "Rufus how can you be so content while your best bud sits here a broken man," he lamented to his hairless pet.  
  
Rufus, coated from the neck up with cheese and beef, looked up at his owner and chattered a slightly audible apology.  
  
Ron released a heavy sigh of despair and slumped back into his seat, staring down at his trademark red shirt over a black sweater. "I'm nothing, I am less then nothing, I am. nothing plus."  
  
Rufus chattered and chirped with an unsure tone giving his human owner a questioning look.  
  
"Nothing minus then; I don't know! I'm so worthless I can't even describe how worthless I am without screwing up." As Ron gave out another sigh, his hairless friend scurried across the table, jumped up to his shoulder and patted him on the back of his neck with his tiny paw. Ron smiled weakly, looking up at his shoulder. "Thanks Rufus, you really know how to cheer a guy up."  
  
Just as Ron's sprits were beginning to rise, he heard a voice from behind. "Hey dufus!"  
  
"Are you sure you want to eat here Tara?" Adrian asked as the blonde cheerleader, now wearing a more sensible style of a red baby-T with hip hugger jeans and black high heels. "I'm paying remember, you can have Italian or French or even Indian."  
  
Tara giggled and pulled him through the door by the arm. "You said I could pick anywhere I want and I'm in the mood for a Naco. Besides, so far this is a great way of figuring out what kind of guy you since I already caught you off guard."  
  
Adrian smiled in defeat and shrugged his shoulder, his leather jacket squeaking lightly from rubbing against itself. "When you're right, you're right. I was expecting you to pick somewhere more expensive so I'd impress you."  
  
Tara grinned mischievously, baring her pearly white teeth. "I knew it, my last boyfriend did the same thing to impress me and I fell for it."  
  
"I'm guessing he turned out to be a jerk."  
  
"That's why I'm going to make duly sure you're not."  
  
Adrian slowly titled his head to the side, staring at something that was happening behind Tara's line of sight. "But couldn't you pick somewhere less hostile?"  
  
Tara's face contorted into a confused look and turned around. Ron was trying to intimidate two street punks by holding his fists in the air in front of him while Rufus dove for cover inside one of Ron's many pants pockets. "Oh no," she gasped lightly. "That's Ron, our mascot. He's going to get creamed by those two and he's such a nice guy."  
  
"Well then," Adrian smiled confidently. "I better go help him and prove how much of a nice guy I am to you." His head filled with the notion that saving Tara's friend would get him closer to her; Adrian approached the thin punk with the green hair from behind first. An obvious difference in strengthen was painfully clear as the green haired delinquent feel like a sack of oranges after a quick chop to the neck. As his dark shades- wearing partner turn to see what happened, he was quickly greeted with a swift knee to the mid-section, sending him to dreamland with his friend. "Well, that was quick, don't you think Tara?"  
  
When he turned to face Tara, he too was treated to an unseen attack, to be specific, an open-handed slap to the face given by a hand with soft skin. "You jerk!" Tara spurted in anger. "You're nothing but a violent punk, just like I thought you were. And to think I was going to give you a chance."  
  
Adrian stammered in surprise; his plan to impress her as a hero backfired. "I was only trying to help your friend."  
  
She turned around in a huff. "Whatever! I don't want to see you again." She then trotted off, her heels clicking on the linoleum floor as she took each angry step.  
  
Adrian stood there, mouth ajar and his heart shattered in his chest. Ron, who just now pieced together what happened.or at least he thinks he just pieced together what just happened, slowly patted Adrian on the back. "Hey, hey, it's ok buddy. You did a good job kicking their butts. Even though.you know. I would've done it myself, no problem."  
  
Adrian slumped down into the chair where Ron and Rufus were eating before, his mind not really paying much attention to Ron's kind words. "She left me and we weren't even together yet."  
  
Ron saw himself in Adrian's pale but heartbroken face and decided to share his wisdom to him (if you call anything Ron says wisdom). Ron took Adrian by the collar and lifted his face so he was looking at him dead in the eye. "Look friend, I know all to well the pain of lost love. I know how it feels to screw up when trying to impress a girl. I know how it feels to have your heart melted like nacho cheese."  
  
Adrian had forgot his emotional pain for a moment and glared at Ron. "Does this pep-talk have a point?"  
  
Ron pointed skyward in confidence. "Yes it does my friend! It's that I, Ron Stoppable, am telling you." his face squirmed in uncertainty.  
  
"Adrian."  
  
"Adrian, that as long as you draw breathe in this world and you're willing to try, try again, you can find true love in this crazy world!"  
  
Adrian jumped up to his feet and hooked his arm around Ron's neck. "You're right Ron! I won't let this one moment in life get me down; I'm going to prove to Tara that I'm not such a bad guy!"  
  
"Right on!"  
  
"I'm going to show her the sensitive, caring side of Adrian!"  
  
"You the sensitive man!"  
  
"I'm. really hungry right about now."  
  
"We can split my Naco!  
  
(I know, none of this seems to fit together, and I'm pretty sure I messed up somewhere. All criticism, flames, etc. wanted, accepted, needed) 


	2. Kim  and Kim?

(Don't own KP, blah blah blah, you know the drill)  
  
Masks of War  
Chapter 2  
Kim . and Kim?  
  
Kim felt there was a definite pattern forming from the scenes she already investigated. She wasn't sure weather the owners were targeted because they overpriced their merchandise or that by overpricing their merchandise, the robbers would assume they had more money to steal. She felt it was best to take a quick break from the case to find Ron. After all; what's a mission without Ron Stoppable tagging along. "Hmm." Kim thought to herself. "It's been a few hours since Ron went to the mall with Zita so he might be hanging around Bueno Nacho like he always is."  
  
As Kim walked through the swinging doors of Bueno Nacho's front entrance, she could already spot Ron at his normal booth eating with someone in black Kim had never seen before. She approached cautiously to find they were both stuffing their faces like immature 6-year-olds. A quick sense of disgust shot through Kim's body as she saw melted cheese dribbling down both their chins. "Nothing like a Naco platter to raise a guy's spirit!" Ron chirped gleefully.  
  
Adrian agreed with a deep, satisfied moan. "I've tried many dishes from around the world but I've never tasted something so simple yet so amazingly good," he admitted happily.  
  
Kim shook her head and leaned against Ron's seat looking down at her oldest friend and partner. "Hey Ron, who's your friend?" she asked.  
  
Ron looked up at Kim, swallowed what he had left in his mouth and wiped his face with the sleeve of his black sweater. "Oh hey Kim! This is my new buddy, Adrian. He took care of a few rowdy characters before I had to get violent myself."  
  
Kim gave Ron a doubtful look but with a smile. "Well I'm glad you didn't have resort to that." She sat down next to Ron and smiled politely at Adrian. "Hi Adrian, I'm Ron's friend, Kim Possible."  
  
Adrian politely wiped his face with a napkin and did a small, graceful bow. "I'm sorry I can't give you a more formal greeting Ms. Possible. I'm slowly regaining some of my humility after a rather. ugly transgression which has occurred recently," Adrian said starting to feel his throat close up remembering the hurtful event.  
  
"What transgression?" asked Kim.  
  
Ron snapped his fingers after thinking for a moment. "Oh, you mean when Tara slapped you for beating up on those guys to help me out and then walking out the door, right?" Ron asked. Having the event retold in such a way made Adrian lower his head, grasping both hands on his raven black hair. "Oh. I said it a wrong way didn't I?"  
  
Kim looked at Ron, feeling a little upset with him. "You think?"  
  
"He's right," Adrian sighed. "I deserved to be left by Tara because I wasn't acting like myself. I thought by acting like a smooth, suave to impress her but in the end all I did was drive her away because I was stupid enough to think that showing off how tough I was while helping a friend of hers at the same time would impress her."  
  
"Well that makes sense; Tara's last boyfriend was a big show off jerk," Kim pointed out. "But you seem like a nice guy, why not just be yourself?"  
  
Adrian stood up with a strange smile. "I guess I'm used to hiding who I really am. For me, life just seems easy if I wear a type of mask and pretend to be someone I'm not. But your right, maybe with Tara, I should be honest." He slowly turned his back to the pair and walked to the door. "See ya later; I need to keep an appointment."  
  
Once Adrian was gone, Kim switched seats so she'd be facing Ron. "He seems nice. strange, but nice," she said.  
  
"Yeah, I like him, a real stand up guy. He even paid for both Naco platters."  
  
"I don't want to sound rude, but does he have a skin condition?"  
  
"What, the pale thing? If it is, I don't think it's bugging him." Ron took a long sip of his medium drink to clean quench his thirst and let out a satisfied aw. "So what's with the mission duds? Are Drakken and Shego trying to take over the world with some kind of earthquake machine?"  
  
"Crime wave, Middleton is plagued by a thugs lead by a mask wearing ninja.thing. I came by so you can help me investigate some more crime scenes."  
  
Ron attempted to make a serious face and pounded his fist on the table. "Let's do this then, for the safety of Middleton!" he exclaimed, Rufus chirping a cheerful agreement from his pocket.  
  
After Ron went home to slip into his mission uniform, the three of them went to the last location on Wade's list to have been visited by this new gang. It was a small, family owned floral shop with just the name "Castillo's" written on the window. Ron and Kim both looked at the store, then each other with confused looks on their faces, then back at the store. You couldn't tell by looking at it that it was visited by the same people that raided a pawn shop and terrorized a used car lot. There was no broken glass, no graffiti, not even a broken flower pot; it was just a simple yellow building standing there like nothing at all happened. They cautiously walked up to the door; Kim grasped the handle and pulled it open. Chimes rang as the door moved. Again, everything was just normal; a beautiful display of flowers from both sides of the room, a young, bearded, thin man in a blue apron sweeping the floor and a woman with short red hair behind the register. Kim took a deep breath and stepped forward. "I'm Kim Possible, I heard a masked gang was here and I'm here to do what I can to stop them."  
  
The man stood still but the red-head quickly understood and stepped out from behind the counter. She approached Kim with a smiling face. "Thank you for responding to my E-mail Kim Possible," she said. "I'm Karin Castillo and this is my husband, Bret."  
  
The four exchanged polite greetings quickly. "I'm a little confused though Mrs. Castillo," Kim admitted politely. "But your store seems to be in perfect order, are you sure you were visited by a gang of masked thugs?"  
  
Karin bit her lip in a surge of guilt. "Well, not a whole gang," she admitted. "It was just one man in a red, strange-looking monster mask. At first I thought he was going to rob us and destroy every flower in the store. But then he just bowed down like some gentleman and declared that our store would be under the protection of 'The Blazing Oni.' At first, I didn't know what to do but me and Bret agreed we couldn't accept protection from a criminal, it might attract bad attention. So I E-mailed your site to see if you could help us."  
  
Kim smiled. "Of course I'll help you Mrs. Castillo. By the way, these flowers are amazing, where do you get them?"  
  
Bret rested his broom against the wall and stepped up. "We grow them in a garden behind this store," he said. "It might not be the professional way of doing things but Karin and I agreed that it's best we keep this business simple."  
  
Ron looked out the window and rapidly patted Kim's shoulder in a frenzy. "Kim, I see him, I see it, I see scary red face guy!" he shouted, seeing a man in black wearing a red demon mask across the street.  
  
Kim looked to where Ron was pointed and her face contorted with stern tenacity. "Let's do this!" She bolted out the door, slowly followed by Ron who wasn't quite feeling up to fighting a guy wearing a demon mask. Kim stood her ground and pointed her finger at her objective. "You, I don't know what you think you're doing here in Middleton but this is your only warning to give yourself up!"  
  
The masked man in black leather jacket replied first with a gracious bow. "You must be this Kim Possible I heard so much about," he said with a deep voice. "I am Blazing Oni, a general for the Warriors of the Mask. I apologize if this sounds rude, but I'm not about ready to give up to the likes of you just yet."  
  
Kim smiled smugly and took her fighting stance. "Suits me just fine, it's too bad, you seem to have let your signature sword behind somewhere."  
  
Blazing Oni let out a quick laugh and reached behind him. "The sword is more for show then actual use; like you, I'm much better hand-to-hand. Besides, I won't be you're opponent," he said, setting down a straw basket which was tied to his back to the ground. "I think you might find this opponent much more enjoyable."  
  
Kim could feel the tiny hairs on the back of her neck tingle as hands grasped the rim of the basket. What horrible thing was about to emerge from it? She didn't have to wait long to find out as what looked like a 6- year-old child wearing a white Japanese fox mask around its head crawled out the basket. Kim dropped her guard as it stared at her with its painted eyes, just sitting there in the middle of the street. "Is this a joke?" she asked.  
  
Her question was soon answered as the small, masked child's body began to change shape and color until, to Kim's surprise, it looked exactly like her. Kim stared in shock, her mouth hanged open as her double stared back at her with the same expression. What was going on, how could that masked thing change into her image? She shook her head and took up a fighting stance, annoyed to see that her own self was mimicking her fighting style. Ron, who during this whole chain of events stood there in frozen shock, suddenly gave out terrified scream and pointed at the fake Kim. "Evil alien clone!" he screeched.  
  
Kim glared back at Ron but before she could say anything, her double spoke. "So not the drama."  
  
Kim spun her face back toward her double in even greater shock then when it first turned into her. "What did you say?"  
  
The Kim doubled smiled, still holding her fighting stance. "I said so-not-the-drama, and this whole teen hero thing, no big." Kim couldn't believe it; this copy sounded exactly like her and was using all her favorite one liners.  
  
Blazing Oni couldn't contain himself any longer and laughed heartily. He could see that Kim was livid about this new development. "Allow me to introduce you to my friend and fellow Warrior of the Mask; General Luminous Kitsune. Right now, my friend is reading your mind in order to perfectly mimic you. That what makes Luminous Kitsune such a valued member of the organization."  
  
Kim had enough of this little game and ran toward her copy just as it began running toward her. Kim threw a hard roundhouse kick only to have it stopped in mid-air by the shape-shifter's own roundhouse kick. The real Kim growled, the fake Kim smiled, punches were thrown and collided with their counterparts. The fight seemed to have been too evenly matched as every attacked Kim launched was meet with the exact same move. Ron and Rufus tried to keep up with the real Kim but they both soon lost track of who was who. "Don't worry KP!" Ron shouted. "I'm coming to help you out. just as soon as I figure out who's you."  
  
Kim looked back at Ron for a moment. "Ron, it's me, I'm the real Kim," she declared. When her focus went back to her opponent, she had to drop to the ground to avoid a spinning kick.  
  
The other Kim looked at Ron. "Ron, we've been friends since forever, you have to believe it's me who's real," she said before dodging a punch to the face.  
  
Rufus chirped in despair and held his head in confusion as Ron desperately tried to figure out who was the real Kim Possible. Blazing Oni laughed at Ron's predicament. "Forget it; Kitsune's morphing ability is near flawless. Even I lost track of who's who so let's both stand back and enjoy this moment."  
  
Ron glared at the masked fiend and pointed his finger at him assertively. "Keep laughing buddy because after Kim whoops your little copy cat, you won't be laughing for long! "he proclaimed, Rufus giving out his squeaky support while the two Kims continued to do battle.  
  
Kim's arms and legs were beginning to feel sore but she knew that her doppelganger was also feeling the sting of battle as she observed it giving it's right arm some attention. Kim smiled. "What's wrong; can't take a little pain?"  
  
The Kim copy smirked smugly and took up a mantis-style stance. This took Kim off guard because she had not used her mantis-style at all during this fight. "Let me show you some moves my Nana taught me when I visited her in Florida during my summer vacation," it said.  
  
Kim growled and took her normal fighting stance. "That's my Nana you're talking about. And she didn't stop at just teaching me how to use mantis-style," she declared. She then lunged forward for another attack and unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks. As she expected, her double was able to fend off each blow just by swatting her hands to wherever the real Kim would launch an attack. Kim's strategy was riding on the assumption that if this shape-shifter had adapted a fighting style from her mind and not just mimicking whatever she was doing that maybe it stopped reading her thoughts. The moment of truth had come, Kim allowed herself to be open to an attack and her clone took advantage of the situation by trying to attack her with a powerful openhanded strike to her chest. Yes, this is what Kim waited for. Kim darted to the side and grabbed the fake her by the wrist with both hands. "She also taught me how to counter it!"  
  
Kim spun around as hard as she could and tossed her imitator right at Blazing Oni. The sudden impact forced Luminous Kitsune to return to its original, child-like form. Blazing Oni feel hard on his back, his mask clumsily rolling on to Kim's feet before stopping. Kim smiled as she picked it up and held it so Ron could see. Ron jumped up in the air with relief and ran to her best friend. "You rock KP! You did it first, you did it best, accept no imitation!"  
  
"Thanks Ron, now let's see who our mystery man is behind the mask." Before they could approach the criminal, the tiny mimic, after a frantic search through Oni's belt, threw a black orb at the duo creating a sudden wall of smoke. Kim coughed as she waved her arms to clear the smoke; her eyes were closed fearing what damage this could do to her vision. After the smoke had cleared, they were alone; the duo had gone away leaving the mask as a parting gift. Kim looked down at the Oni mask, at its glaring, eyeless stare, grinning with its jagged yellow teeth, its expression amplified only further with its red skin. "You will not get away," she said to the mask. Ron quietly watched Kim stare intensely at the mask until the cold silence was broken by the ringing of the Kimmunicator.  
  
(Ok, I'm trying my best but only you can get me up and keep writing, please review, any review, I'm Desperate for attention!!! :P) 


	3. Truth, Alliance, and Sushi

(Disclaimer Haiku) (The rights to K-P, they are not mine you see, she's owned by Disney)  
  
Masks of War  
Chapter 3  
Truth, Alliance, and Sushi  
  
"What's the sitch Wade?" Kim asked the Kimmunicator, the red mask still clasped tightly in her other hand.  
  
Wade looked into his web cam and turned his body so he could talk to Kim more comfortably. "I got a match on that tag you wanted me to translate, definitely the Japanese Kanji for 'War.' Also, I'm starting to see a pattern to this crime wave."  
  
Ron looked over Kim's shoulder at the Kimmunicator. "What kind of pattern? You mean like only robbing places with even numbered addresses?" he asked.  
  
Wade shook his head. "Sorry Ron, it's more like stores who price their merchandise way over their real value."  
  
Kim shrugged her shoulder so Ron would back away from her for a bit. "I sort of figured that part out Wade when the floral store owners told me one of them gave their business protection for free."  
  
"Too bad it's only happening in Middleton," Wade interjected.  
  
"Woah, back up! What do you mean; it's only happening in Middleton?" she asked. This didn't make any sense.  
  
"Apparently this system is only being used in Middleton. But both Lower and Upperton are not experiencing the same kind of compassion. They just seem to be going wild. Even worse, two other gangs have already merged with this new one. At this rate, they'll probably run the tri-city area!"  
  
Kim closed her eyes in deep meditation for a moment. She needed answers and so far each answer only brought up more questions. The best thing to do now, she thought, was to know the enemy a little better. She opened her eyes and looked into the screen. "Wade, I need you to do a search on a few phrases for me."  
  
Wade smiled and cracked his chubby fingers. "I'm listening."  
  
"Thanks Wade, now I need to find out about Warriors of the Mask, Blazing Oni, and Luminous Kitsune. If you can, see if they can all be tied together."  
  
"Sure, would you like that in the next 30 seconds?"  
  
Kim smiled. "Please and thank you."  
  
Wade quickly conducted the search Kim asked for until he gave a stunned expression. "Woah, it took me to Japan's Ministry of Intelligence with heavy security." He rapidly typed a few keys and smiled. "I'm in, piece of cake."  
  
"What did you get for me Wade?"  
  
"Plenty. First off, the Warriors of the Mask used to be Japan's covert Special Forces. Real serious stuff, it was formed in the late 40s so they could always stay one step ahead of both Soviet Russia and America while they recovered from the war. From the looks of it, they were disbanded in the mid 80s when Japan felt their services were no longer needed. There were more but 3 members were given the rank of general; Blazing Oni, Luminous Kitsune, those two you probably know already, and Shadow Tengu."  
  
"Let me guess, they all had weird powers like changing shape?" she asked in a slightly sarcastic voice since she already knew the answer.  
  
"You got it; Luminous Kitsune is some type of psychic and a shape shifter but there doesn't seem to be any other information here, they don't even say the gender."  
  
"Gender is not what I'm worried about now Wade, keep going."  
  
"Right, next on the list, Blazing Oni. It says he's a master swordsman and he even perfected a fighting style that deflects bullets. His profile says he should be about 72 by now."  
  
Kim gave an expression of contemplation. "Then this one I saw must be a replacement. He said he's more comfortable fighting hand-to-hand and he was defiantly younger than 72." She gave Wade her undivided attention once again. "Ok Wade, tell about this Shadow Tengu guy."  
  
"Shadow Tengu, leader of the Warriors of the Mask before their end, was what you would call your typical ninja. Can sneak in and out of anywhere without a trace, like I said; your typical ninja. He should be 64 years old so he might be the one running this operation. Anything else you need Kim?"  
  
Kim nodded and held up the mask. "Think you can scan this for any DNA?"  
  
A red light emitted from top of the Kimmunicator passed over the mask. As its first sweep was complete, Kim turned it over so it could scan that as well. When the light dimmed to nothing, Wade got the results. "Bingo, sweet and some skin flakes were left on the backside of the mask, I just got a match from international records. DNA belongs to a Chinese citizen, Drago Adian, not natural born, became a citizen 6 years ago when he was 13. Passed his high school equivalence test at 17 and learned 4 languages doing so. He worked for a fishing company and a martial arts school until 21 months ago when he went to Japan. He came to the U.S. 8 months ago but he just vanished after that. He's 19 now, here's a picture of him."  
  
As a passport picture was displayed on the screen, Kim winched slightly and looked away in anguish. Ron couldn't take it anymore and tried to peek over her shoulder. "Come on Kim, I want to see!" When he did see the picture, he yelped in surprise. "But that can't be, there has to be a mistake."  
  
Kim shook her head. "No mistake Ron. Blazing Oni is Drago Adian. and we've met him before." She looked back at the picture of the dark haired, red eyed youth in disappointment. "It's your friend from Bueno Nacho. it's Adrian."  
  
In a small hotel room in Middleton, in a building with where the paint on the walls are chipping off day by day, where the windows were a dingy yellow from years of neglect, in a neighborhood surrounded by factories, warehouses, and the booming sounds of jets landing and taking off from the near by airport, Adrian, dressed down to his white shirt and the black pants of his Blazing Oni uniform, was carefully bandaging Luminous Kitsune's right shoulder which had collided with Adrian's red mask after the battle with Kim Possible. "That's some bruise there little buddy," he said to the child-sized shape shifter. Kitsune looked up at Adrian with its painted eyes and he smiled at his little friend. "Don't worry; I'll take on Kim if she shows up again. I'm just glad Ron doesn't seem to be interested in fighting us, he seems like a stand up guy."  
  
Kitsune looked down for a moment then back at Adrian. (Ron Stoppable, from Kim's memories, I don't see him fight much. But why don't you want to fight him?) it asked inside Adrian's mind in a child's voice. (It would seem to be a good idea to dispose of any potential interference.)  
  
Adrian laughed to himself and sat on the bed. "Ron helped me out in Bueno Nacho when I was feeling down. He seemed like a spaz but he gave me some solid advice. He told me as long as I'm alive and willing to try, I can find love. But I think he meant more than that, he was basically telling me that I can do anything as long as I work for it. A bit of a stretch from his exact words and I'm probably giving him more credit than what he deserves but I'm sticking with it."  
  
Kitsune clumsily stood up before walking to the table, climbing up one of the chairs, and grasping a teapot with both hands. (Are you going to see that girl again? You know, that pretty blonde who tore out your heart and stamped it into dust?) Kitsune mentally asked while carefully pouring tea into two cups.  
  
Adrian sighed and threw himself back onto the bed. "Her name is Tara and she just thinks I'm overly violent. Though I can see why now, I attacked those two thugs from behind without even trying to say anything. But she'll see that I'm not like that at all, that I'm caring and sensitive."  
  
(You forgot criminal partner with an aging psychopath.)  
  
Adrian growled and slammed his fist on the wall. "You know how I feel when you bring that up!" he bellowed. "If it were up to me, that long nosed freak would be in the hospital by now!"  
  
(Calm down, I'm only teasing you. It's a shame Shadow Tengu is blackmailing you with information on where your sister is, sure, but at least your doing your best. Because of you, most of your crew only steals from merchants who use unfair methods to swindle people. That's better than having them go wild across the city like they are in Upper and Lowerton.)  
  
"If I must be a criminal, the least I can do is make sure that innocent are safe. That won't redeem my crimes but maybe it'll help me keep my humanity."  
  
(You remind me of the last Blazing Oni. He too tried to live with honor despite his dishonest profession.) Kitsune stretched out and changed its body to that of Adrian's. "So what are you going to do now?" he asked in Adrian's voice, sipping his cup of tea.  
  
Adrian laughed hearing his own voice coming from someone else and jumped out of bed. "I'm going to try again. This time, I will convince Tara that I'm a nice guy because I'm going to cook her food and play her music."  
  
Kitsune took another sip and looked into his cup. "You're a good cook, I'll give you that. But don't you think you're taking too much time off? You're going to be in enough hot water as it is now that you lost your mask and failed to stop Kim Possible like Tengu wanted."  
  
Adrian smirked and picked up the other cup of tea. "He can go deal with it. He needs a Blazing Oni for his half-baked scheme to work and I'm the only one tough enough for the position. Besides, even if I can't get what I want from the old fart, maybe I can find more than I expected from that beautiful angel," he said with distant eyes before drinking his tea.  
  
Kitsune shook his new head and held up his tea cup. "You're a romantic fool, a stubborn, naïve, simple but romantic fool. But hey, that's why I like you." The two clicks cups before the true Adrian went into the kitchen and started chopping up vegetables. "So what are you making?"  
  
"Read my mind and find out."  
  
Kitsune groaned and tilted his head back. "You know I can't when you're wearing that damned Alpha Wave necklace Tengu gave you."  
  
Adrian grinned and twirled the chopping knife in his hand. "Some things I like to keep secret my friend."  
  
Adrian had spent more time preparing for his chance to redeem himself to Tara than he did preparing any of his crimes. One of his crew was a hacker from Middleton High and he was able to snag Tara's address from the school's student directory. Adrian also spent all of his left over petty cash to buy himself a classy pair of black pants, deep red dress shirt, and a black dinner jacket. Now he had his ultimate weapon wrapped neatly inside a blue handkerchief. As he stood out on her porch he could feel the wet night air clinging to the skin of his hands while the crickets played their nightly melody. With a lump in his throat, Adrian, the blight of crooked merchants, one of the three generals of the Warriors of the Mask, slowly knocked on the door and hoped to 8 separate Gods that this goes well. The door opened and Tara stood there in a simple yellow sunflower tee and old baggy khakis. She crossed her arms across her chest and glared at him. "What are you doing here?" she half-hissed.  
  
Adrian smiled and held up his handkerchief covered container. "I know, I'm a jerk, but I wanted to make it up to you with this peace offering. If you still don't want to give me a chance, I'll leave and never bother you again but I'll be happy either way if you accept this small token from my heart."  
  
Tara slowly smiled and dropped her arms. "Maybe I did judge you too quickly again. You were only trying to help my friend but you just did it the wrong way. So what did you bring me?"  
  
Adrian smiled in hope and undid the knot on the handkerchief. "It's my mouth watering, tongue satisfying sushi!" Unfortunately, Tara's face was not one of joy and anticipation but surprise and disgust. Before Adrian could ask what was wrong, she slammed the door in his face, turned the lock, and shut off the porch light.  
  
Ron mopped the whole time he was following Kim across town looking for Adrian, still feeling betrayed someone he called friend was a criminal. Kim finally had enough and turned around. "Ron, can you drop it already?" she asked coldly.  
  
Ron looked up at her still in a slump. "How can you be like this Kim? Why are you so serious at a time like this? You don't even look this serious when we're facing Drakken."  
  
Kim gave a quick sigh and looked at Ron frankly. "I guess it's because I let this happen under my nose. I know Wade always gives us the missions but this was happening right here in Middleton, I should've known. I'm not going to let some washed up spy team from Japan just walk in and think they can terrorize my town. It'll make me lose face not just at school but all over the world! They'll say, 'how can we trust Kim Possible to save the world if she can't save her home town?'"  
  
This all hit Ron a little too hard and he jerked his head back in surprise. "Woah! Wait, you think if you don't take down Adrian and the rest of these other guys that no one will take you seriously as a teen hero?"  
  
"You saw that little shape stealing freak, it totally dissed me! It said the whole teen hero thing was no big! I'm going to take it, that mask wearing liar, and everyone else involved in this mask gang all down to the nearest prison if I have to drag them all by hand."  
  
Ron furrowed his brow and pointed at Kim. "See, once again the Possible overachieving gene rears its ugly head in you. You have to be completely perfect about everything and Adrian is just something staining your perfect teen hero resume isn't he?"  
  
"Alright, I might be obsessing just a little but it's for the good of Middleton Ron."  
  
"Middleton Kim or you? Cause I think it's more you." Before Kim could say anything in her defense, Ron pointed behind her. "Adrian at 6'oclock!"  
  
Kim turned ready for battle but was taken back seeing Adrian walking toward them in a trance, staring at a plastic container with a blue piece of paper hanging over it. As he walked past Kim, she felt she had to intervene and stopped him by grabbing him by his collar. "Where do you think you're going?" she asked in a stern tone.  
  
Adrian simply flopped down to the sidewalk and stared to the pavement. "Nowhere, I'm a failure at everything I attempt to do," he sighed.  
  
Ron kneeled down, forgetting this man lied to him, and looked at Adrian in concern. "You tried to get back with Tara and it didn't work out did it?"  
  
"I even made my famous sushi to show her I'm not some thick headed, uncultured jerk but she just slammed the door in my face," he replied, letting the container drop to the floor.  
  
Kim rolled her eyes. "That's obvious, she's allergic to fish."  
  
Ron opened the plastic container and popped one of the sushi rolls into his mouth. Adrian looked up to see his reaction to it. Ron carefully chewed Adrian's concoction before jerking his head forward with a moan of satisfaction. "Oh, yeah, that is some grade-A sushi, definitely top shelf stuff."  
  
Adrian smiled almost forgetting the pain Tara gave him. "Really, you think so? My secret is I only use fish from those farmer's markets so I know it's fresh. Then, I add a small amount of wasabi around the fish before covering it-"  
  
Kim lost patience and cut Adrian short. "We know who you really are, Adrian, or should I say, Drago Adian."  
  
Adrian slowly stood to his feet and looked up into the cloudy night sky. "You can't see the stars as good in the city as you can back home. Maybe I'll go back when I'm done here."  
  
"Sorry, the only place you're going is straight to jail."  
  
He slowly looked at Kim and turned to her. "Wouldn't you want the whole Warriors of the Mask gang instead?" he asked bluntly.  
  
He could already see the answer burning in Kim's eyes. "I'm listening."  
  
"I can take you to the man in charge of this whole operation if you can help me."  
  
"This man in charge wouldn't happen to be Shadow Tengu would it?"  
  
Adrian smiled lightly. "You're as smart as you are gorgeous." Kim clenched her fist; she wasn't in the mood to play games. Adrian quickly composed himself and continued. "To answer this and any other question you might have later on, yes, Shadow Tengu is leading this gang, yes, this Shadow Tengu is the original one since you already seem to know something about him and yes, I'm not the real Blazing Oni. I'm not even Adrian. well. it's not my real name anyway."  
  
Kim crossed her arms and gave a cocky smile. "It was just a mask for you to hide behind."  
  
Adrian nodded. "Exactly. but only because I wanted to feel like I'm a normal person for once and I can be if you help me with something."  
  
"What do you want so badly that you're willing to betray your boss?"  
  
Adrian grunted. "Not my boss, my blackmailer! He has information of where my sister is and he's holding it over me so I can be his 3rd general."  
  
Ron stood up and slapped Adrian on the back which made jump in surprise. "See Kim, I knew it! He's a good guy; he's just caught in a bad situation. I might not have any. you know, siblings, but you would do anything for your little bros wouldn't you KP?"  
  
Kim seemed hesitant to answer, just last week the tweebs put her bra in the freezer and she hasn't forgiven them yet. "Let's not get into that right now Ron. Let's focus on what's important." She turned to Adrian feeling more comfortable around him since he appears to be telling the truth. "Alright, we'll help you find your sister if you take us to Shadow Tengu. Who is your sister anyway?"  
  
Adrian closed his eyes and looked back up into the night sky.  
  
.Shego . her name is Shego. 


	4. Cleaning House

(KP. if by now you don't get it, you have no business working in the patent office.)  
  
Masks of War  
Chapter 4  
Cleaning House  
  
Kim had kindly asked for a moment alone to talk to Ron secretly. "Ok, I was not expecting that," Kim whispered to Ron.  
  
"I know," he replied. "I didn't even know Shego had any relatives."  
  
"It must've been a long time since he last seen her, he probably has no clue she's a criminal."  
  
"Should we tell him?"  
  
Kim looked back at Adrian who was just watching them, waiting for them to finish conversing, and turned back to Ron. "I say, take care of our gang problem first then we give him the bad news."  
  
"You sure that's the right thing to do?"  
  
"It's for the good of Middleton."  
  
"Don't you mean your ego?"  
  
Kim shot an icy glare at Ron before walking back to Adrian. "When was the last time you saw your sister?" she asked.  
  
Adrian thought for a moment. "Almost 10 years I think."  
  
That's what Kim thought; Shego must've gone bad during those long 10 years she left her family. "Alright, I'll help you find your sister but first you have to help me stop the Warriors of the Mask gang."  
  
Adrian grinned slammed his fist into his palm. "Glad to; I'll be killing two birds with one stone. But I want to old man when crunch time comes; I owe him a lot of lumps."  
  
Kim smiled uneasily starting to doubt her new ally's sanity from wanting to beat up an elderly man. "Let's play smart first, is there more than one hideout for this gang?"  
  
Adrian nodded. "Several and I know them all."  
  
"Then we better phone the proper authorities so we can get them all at once," Kim said, reaching for her Kimmunicator. She switched the switch and watched as Wade's face appeared after a quick static. "Wade, I need you to get in touch with the tri-city police headquarters, tell them they're going to be making one big pickup."  
  
Wade looked at his watch and smiled lazily. "You cracked the case already? It's only 10 p.m. so that means it only took you about 7 hours."  
  
Kim tried to look humble. "Oh, it's no big, I had some inside information." She turned to Adrian and gave him the Kimmunicator. "Okay, just tell him where those hideouts are."  
  
Adrian nodded and took the Kimmunicator. "This is Drago Adian former Blazing Oni of the Warriors of the Mask. This is every hideout from Lowerton to Upperton where the cops will find members of said crime organization."  
  
As Adrian disclosed the information to Wade, Rufus, who had been napping comfortably in Ron's pocket, climbed out and perched himself on Ron's shoulder with his cell phone grasped in its forelegs. Ron looked down and raised his eyebrow slightly. "What, did I get a call Rufus?" he asked his pet and long time friend. Rufus flipped it open and highlighted Zita's name from his number list. Ron bit his lower lip then shook his head. "No. um. she's probably busy, I don't want to bother her right now."  
  
Kim turned to Ron. "Who's too busy Ron?"  
  
Ron gulped a breath and adjusted the collar of his black mission shirt. "No one. besides, we're on a mission, I just can't go calling people." Kim quickly snatched the cell phone from Rufus. "Hey!" Ron protested, trying to grab it back unsuccessfully.  
  
"Zita? That's weird, I thought you liked Zita why not call her? Did something happen on your date today?"  
  
"Nothing happened!" Ron snapped.  
  
Kim pivoted her hand on her hip and half smirked. "Then why not call her?"  
  
Ron slumped down in defeat. "Because nothing happened. I worked up the courage to put my hand on hers and then I made a b-line for the popcorn. Maybe I should just give up; I'll never be able to make the big step up."  
  
Adrian stepped up since he already said what Wade needed to hear. "I don't believe this!" he declared. "What's all this garbage about giving up?"  
  
Ron took back his cell phone. "I might as well."  
  
"Ron, a wise person once told me 'as long as you draw breathe in this world and you're willing to try, try again, you can find true love in this crazy world!'"  
  
"Didn't I tell you that today in Bueno Nacho?"  
  
Adrian smiled. "Like I said, a wise person told me that. Now call her or you'll regret it."  
  
As Adrian lead team Possible to Tengu's hideout, Ron finally dialed Zita up and nervously waited for a reply. Zita, who had just finished cramming for an exam, reached out from her bed and picked up the phone. She checked the caller I.D. before answering. "Ron, is that you?" she asked.  
  
Ron felt a lead weight crash into his stomach. "H-Hey Zita, yeah it's me, Ron. What are you up to?"  
  
Zita smiled to herself and laid back on her bed. "Just relaxing, I finished studying for this big algebra exam."  
  
"Oh if you're busy I'll just hang up and talk to you later."  
  
"No, I just finished studying I really would like someone to talk to, especially if it's you."  
  
Ron blushed red. "Hey, I'm sorry if you didn't have fun at the movies today. I'm sure working there all the time really makes it boring for you to just go in and watch."  
  
"Well, the movie was boring, but it was fun with you."  
  
Ron saw his opening, he had to take it. "Then why don't we do it again sometime?" He winched waiting for a negative answer.  
  
Zita gave a small giggle into the phone. "Sure Ron, tomorrow after school? It'll help me relax after the test."  
  
Ron was ecstatic. "Sure, see you tomorrow." He hung up and pulled his arm back. "BOOYA! Guess who's got a date with Zita?"  
  
Kim smiled and looked back at him. "A certain blonde Middleton Mad Dog mascot?"  
  
"You know it KP, Ron Stoppable is the man!"  
  
Adrian turned to them. "I'm glad to hear your good fortune Ron, but we're here," he said, pointing at a building. Kim pulled out a set of thermo-goggles and carefully inspected the old warehouse. "What do you see?"  
  
Kim adjusted the magnification and examined further. "There's about 30 of them on the ground level and one on the second floor. I think it's sitting down or using the bathroom."  
  
"2nd floor, Shadow Tengu's office is there. Alright, so we're looking at 10 for each of us and I think Tengu will be smart enough to surrender."  
  
Ron wiped his brow and laughed nervously. "When you said. 10 each, you mean... what exactly?"  
  
Kim rolled her eyes. "It means me and Adrian will take 15 each and you stand by for backup." Kim opened a pocket and pulled out a handful of liquid rubber snare bombs Wade made for stopping henchmen in their tracks. "Ok, now all we have to do is sneak in back, flank out so we can surround them and create a distraction as to get- HEY!"  
  
While Kim was devising a strategy, Adrian had started walking toward the warehouse building. "This is my old crew, I don't think we'll need to do a lot of real heavy thinking to take care of them," he said. As he reached the front door, he calmly took his dinner jacket and hung it carefully on a loose nail on the doorframe. He knocked three times on the door and was answered with 2 knocks, a pause, and another 2 knocks. He replied with the next line of knocking followed by another line of knocking from the other side. Adrian did not have the patience for this. "Open the door you idiot!" he screamed.  
  
The door swung open and dozens of eyes fell on him. The doorman cocked his head to the side before slowly recognizing him. "General Oni? Where's your mask?" he asked.  
  
Adrian responded by sending the poor man flying to the back wall with a single open handed strike. As the other hoods began to realize that their general betrayed them, Adrian kneeled down on one knee before a slew of black balls flew overhead. With little time to respond, a group of men were bound both to the floor and each other as the balls exploded into a giant black glob. Kim jumped in over Adrian and landed with her signature fighting stance. "Alright, we can do this the easy way." she said.  
  
"Or the fun way," Adrian grinned.  
  
Adrian took his place next to Kim and to her surprise; red waves of energy surrounded his hands. She had always thought it was her gloves that did that but this does explain how she can control it so easily. "Blazing Oni. and Kim Possible. this is bad," one of the trapped thugs admitted. The others just growled in anger, pulling out pipes, chains, and other nearby objects as weapons.  
  
Adrian smiled and laughed deep in his throat. "So Kim, maybe when I'm done with my business with my sister we can team up sometime. I think we can make a good team."  
  
Kim kept one hand near her back pocket. "I appreciate the offer but I do just fine when it's me, Ron, and Rufus. Now if you'll excuse me." She quickly picked a snare bomb from her back pocket and trapped 3 thugs in another black glob. Kim jumped toward a small group of the goons, taking down one guy quick with a flying kick to the face. She took a few more down to the ground while dodging their attacks. The last member of the small group of criminals stood his ground and twirled his long stick in attempt to intimidate Kim. Kim responded with an unimpressed face and by spinning two pipes she picked up off the ground in her hands with greater skill. As he ran in for an attack, she simply blocked it with one of her weapons and tripped him down with the other. "You know, if you were any good using that stick, you might've lasted a little longer."  
  
While Kim was cleaning house, Adrian found himself surrounded by his former cohorts with angry faces. "Blazing Oni is a traitor to us all!" one shouted.  
  
Adrian growled and clenched his glowing fist. "Never call me that, I'd tell you my real name, but you won't last that long!" he declared. He drove his fist to the ground and a red shockwave from his hand was released all around him, knocking out all his would be attackers.  
  
Ron wasn't expecting to fight, that was until two of hoods found their way out of the line of danger and into his presence. Ron did the only thing he could think of, he took several movie martial art stances, accenting each with their accompanying sounds. This, of course, didn't install fear in them but uncontrollable laughter. Rufus suddenly used Ron's shoulder as a platform to jump onto the face of one the thugs, making him stumble back to a support column to knock him out. While his friend watched the commotion, Ron did the only thing he could by depantsing him. Angry at having his boxers exposed, he tried to attack Ron but tripped on his own downed pants and fell flat on his face. Ron stepped over him and picked up Rufus. "Booya little buddy," he said raising his hand near Rufus. Rufus replied with his own Booya and slapped both forelegs on Ron's hand.  
  
As Kim finished off another group of gang members with her two pipes, she froze in her feet as Adrian shot a sphere of red energy inches from her face. It wasn't until she heard a pain filled grunt and the thud of a body until she realized what had happened. Adrian winked and tipped his glowing hand to her. "You're welcome and you owe me," he said.  
  
Kim replied by throwing both pipes toward Adrian. Adrian freaked and dropped to the floor as the pipes hit two goons in the face. Kim walked up to Adrian and smiled smugly down at him. "Considered it paid with interest," she replied.  
  
Adrian growled as he brushed himself clean. "Well, I think that's all of them. That means all we're missing is one elderly ninja freak," he pointed out.  
  
"You might think you've won," said a voice from above. The Possible Team and guest turned to see a man with back length white hair dressed in all in black, red guards on the forearms and shins of the outfit, and a black mask with a very long nose at the end standing at the top of the stairs leading to the second floor. "But the true battle has yet begun!" 


	5. Parting Ways

(Ok, last time I have to say this in this story. I don't own KP or any of the characters you recognize off the bat. And I won't own her in the next story series I'm planning.)  
  
Masks of War  
Chapter 5  
Parting Ways  
  
Adrian growled and took one step toward the stairs which the old ninja in the black, long-nosed masked was standing atop on. "You can't take us on, old man!" he shouted. "We'll beat you just like we beat your underlings!"  
  
Shadow Tengu laughed from behind his mask. "To compare me to those low lives is to compare an ant to a lion. And since allied yourself with Kim Possible, instead of disposing of her like I ordered, is only proof enough that you were afraid to face me alone," he gloated.  
  
Kim stepped in front of her temporary partner to make sure he doesn't go off the handle and do something foolish. "Give it up Shadow Tengu, your days of crime in the tri-city area are over," she declared with authority.  
  
"This isn't about petty crimes, all what I've done so far is only for recruitment!" he reviled with a diabolic tone. "I reformed the Warriors of the Mask to commit terrorist acts on government buildings and whole cities in the name of Japan. This modest area was just a spring board for my plans with you, Miss Possible, were to be the first true victim of Japanese aggression that would take notice not only here in the states, but worldwide!"  
  
Kim crossed her arm and smirked. "All because you want revenge after they fired you as a spy, right?"  
  
Tengu clenched his fist and growled in anger. "You're so smug aren't you Miss Possible? Yes, this is because those fools in the Ministry of Intelligence felt that the new Japan no longer needed the services of international spies. We were the best of the best and they brushed us away like garbage! Now they'll see the mistake they made years ago as they'll be blamed for war crimes they never committed!" He then raised his hands up high and laughed a villainous laugh. "You might've taken care of this bunch but I have men all over ready to turn all three cities into a giant riot zone with just one call!"  
  
Just then the phone hooked to his belt began ringing. "You should answer it Tengu, might be important," Adrian said in a mocking voice.  
  
Tengu ignored his former subordinate and answered the call. "Yes? What do you mean the police? What do you mean jail?!" Kim smiled at Ron knowing what was happening. "Fine, just tell me who hasn't been arrested. What do you mean all but 30 members got hauled in? Those are." he slowly hung up and looked at the three. "You traitor, you told the cops so you could get off the hook!" In a fit of rage he threw his phone at Adrian.  
  
Adrian caught it with a grin. "Yeah I did, but I would've done it for nothing."  
  
"Nothing indeed, you just threw out your only chance to see your sister!"  
  
"You truly are an idiot. Or maybe I am; Kim is willing to give me for this one act what you held over me for months. But now it's time to stop your mad plot for revenge."  
  
"You have to catch me first!" Shadow Tengu then leaped up to the second floor followed by Kim, Adrian, and Ron running up the stairs back to back to back. As they all got up to the second floor, all the lights were switched off making it impossible to see anything but black. Adrian tried to illuminate the room with his glowing hands but a single light switched on over Shadow Tengu looking away from them. "Afraid of the dark are we?"  
  
Adrian growled and ran toward the light. "You should be afraid of me because I'm going to knock the stuffing out of you!"  
  
Adrian tackled the black clad figure and clumps of straw exploded out of its joints. Ron blinked in surprise. "Wow, he knocked the stuffing out of him," he said.  
  
Adrian screamed in anger and threw a clump of straw forward. "It's a damned dummy double!" he bellowed.  
  
Just then all the lights switched on one by one until the last one shined over a digital clock attached to a clump of metal. Ron freaked out when it started to count down from 60. "Ticking bomb, ticking bomb, someone stop it!" he cried out.  
  
As Kim took a step toward the bomb, something ricocheted off the floor in front of her foot, forcing her to take a step back. "You think you won don't you?" asked Tengu, his voice echoing from above. Kim looked up to see that the lights were hanging off the ceiling rafters overhead. Tengu must be using them as cover since the lights were not strong enough to illuminate the ceiling above the rafters. "But I won't let a cheerleader, her goofy sidekick, and a country bumpkin with glowing hands stop me from getting even with those who took me out of power! So I'll take all three of you out with this bomb meant for the governor's mansion. I guess you will become a martyr to my cause after all Miss Possible."  
  
"That's it," Adrian interjected. "I'm dragging your wrinkled, ancient body all the way to the state prison!" He jumped up; his arms stretched up to grab the rafter before something hit him hard on the head. He fell hard on his back, grasping his head where he felt the pang of pain. "He hit me with something!" He tried to stand up only to be pelted with even more mysterious objects. Adrian grabbed something he spotted on the corner of his eye that was still rolling. "That immature senior citizen, he's throwing pebbles at us!"  
  
When Adrian finally got to his feet, he couldn't stay in one place for more than an instant to dodge Shadow Tengu's onslaught of pebbles. He could hear the soft landings of the old man's feet as he jumped from rafter to rafter, probably trying to keep a good vantage point to see all three at once at all times. Kim and Ron stood at the wall; apparently the old ninja was paying too much attention at his former general to pay any attention to them as long as they didn't move. "Well," Kim sighed, "now we have the distraction but how are we going to disarm the bomb?"  
  
"It's impossible KP," Ron said. "As long as that crazy guy in the black pajamas is throwing rocks at us, we can't get near it without getting really badly hurt."  
  
Kim growled and banged her fist on the wall. "I can't believe I'm letting myself get beaten by a guy who can throw pebbles like they were bullets! If there was only a way to get him down from there."  
  
A sudden laugh boomed from the darkness above. "Forget it Miss Possible, that clock is already down to 30 seconds and I have enough of these tiny rocks to keep you in your place just long enough for all of you to be blown to bits! You might be able to save the world from evil geniuses and demented criminals but you never faced off with the likes of me and you never will again!"  
  
Kim smirked at a sudden idea and secretly pulled out a small orb from her pocket. "Ron," she whispered to her best friend. "I need Rufus for a sec, I have an idea." Ron nodded and unbuttoned the pocket Rufus likes to stay in. Now free, Rufus slowly climbed out and saw the green ball in Kim's hand, her index finger beckoning him to come closer. Rufus jumped onto Kim's hand, gently grabbed the green sphere in his mouth and climbed up to her shoulder. "Hey Rufus, if you think you can get up there, I'll treat you to a hero's meal at Bueno Nacho, I'll even grande-size it."  
  
Rufus gave a quick salute and scampered up an electrical wiring conduit incased in metal which led up to the ceiling. Meanwhile, Adrian was still trying to get free of his monotonous situation. He tried blasting the pebbles with his energy hands but only succeeded in exposing his back in the process. In desperation, began to run half-way up the wall before a direct hit to his knee made him fall on his back hard enough to make even Ron and Kim wince in pain. Tengu laughed his villainous laugh. "In another 15 seconds, you'll be nothing more than DNA evidence on a pile of rubble Then it won't be long till the United States starts bombing Tokyo in retaliation for this terrible crime I committed in their name!" Once Rufus finally made it up to the rafters, he quickly found where Shadow Tengu was standing and dashed up one of his pant legs. In complete surprise, the old man began jumping wildly, shaking his leg trying to free himself of the hairless rodent. He suddenly began to lose balance, one foot teetering on the edge of the study beam of wood.  
  
As he tried to keep his balance, Rufus came tumbling out of his pant leg without Kim's sphere in his mouth. Adrian saw the small one's plight and dove forward, catching him in his hand before hitting the ground. Adrian smiled despite his tiny, annoying wounds. "You owe me baldy."  
  
Shadow Tengu finally was able to plant both his feet on solid surface before laughing again. "You think you could beat me with a mutant rat?" he asked arrogantly.  
  
Kim smirked smugly and waited for a second. "No, but that stink bomb might do a number on you," she said calmly. Before Tengu could question what she meant, something exploded from within his clothing and a green smoke started pouring out from every hole of his uniform. The terrible smell started to make him choke, his eyes watering. Soon he fell to the floor in a clump more concerned on the smell then the bodily pain. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a bomb to disarm." Kim rushed toward the bomb and tore the access panel, exposing a mess of colorful wiring. "Amateur hour; it's always blue wire off, green wire off, and switch red with black." Kim started doing just that and surly enough, the clock stopped at 3 seconds. Ron gave a heavy sigh of relief and fell back on the wall.  
  
Adrian slowly pulled himself up and laughed down at the half unconscious Tengu as police sirens began to wail from outside. "Well Tengu, I know I was angry at you about something but now I just can't stop laughing!" he cried out. "A master ninja such as yourself were out done by a cheerleader and a naturally hairless rodent."  
  
Shadow Tengu slowly lifted his face from the ground, as he did, his mask slid right off with his long, silver hair, showing a completely bald old Japanese man with wrinkles on his forehead and a hairy mole on his cheek. This only made Adrian fall to the floor laughing. "Oh just bite me," the old man groaned.  
  
It wasn't long before every last member of the Warriors of the Mask gang was hauled away with Shadow Tengu as the last to be taken downtown. The police chief approached Kim Possible and tipped his hat. "We owe you one Kim Possible, the whole tri-city area can rest easy now that these bunch are going behind bars," he said. "But how did you disarm that bomb so easily?"  
  
Kim tried to look humble and waved her hand lightly. "No big, it's just like rewiring the DVD player in my room," she then. "I hope you enjoy your stay in prison while you can, Shadow Tengu, because I'm sure the Japanese government would like to have a few words with you on why you were planning on framing them for terrorist acts."  
  
Shadow Tengu growled and looked at Kim Possible from his chained position in the patty wagon. "I'll get you for this Kim Possible!" he vowed before they slammed the doors shut and drove him away.  
  
Adrian groaned lightly in pain and he took his dinner jacket off from the nail from which it was hanging off from all this time. When he slipped it on, the high-pitched roar of his speed bike filled the now empty streets and a single headlight was rushing toward them. It screeched to a stop a few feet away from the three and the black helmed bicker calmly unsaddled from the black and red machine and gently threw a bag of belongings at Adrian's feet. When the biker took off its helmet, it looked exactly like Adrian. Kim gave a sour face knowing it was Luminous Kitsune the shape stealer. "I'm glad to see you're finally ready to abandon this career of crime buddy," the fake Adrian said, "This will be good for your soul."  
  
Adrian half smiled and swung the bag over his shoulder. "How did you know I was here and that I turned my back on Tengu?" he asked.  
  
Kitsune grinned and tossed Adrian his Alpha Wave necklace. Adrian caught it with his free hand. "You're emotions ran so high, I didn't just track you here but I could tell dead off that you were taking back your life from that old crow."  
  
Adrian laughed lightly to himself and looked at the necklace. "Yup and now I'm ready to finally fulfill my destiny." He turned to Kim. "Head's up Kim, going away present for ya," he said, tossing the necklace to her. "It'll keep my little buddy here from reading your mind."  
  
Kim caught it and slipped it on. "Good, that mind reading thing is so annoying. So I guess that means you're leaving Middleton, huh Adrian?"  
  
Ron stepped forward. "Ah come on man, you can't go, we were just beginning to be good buds. Besides you don't really want to find Shego, she's a criminal!" Kim flinched at Ron's stupidity as he himself caught his mistake. "Oh. I just put my foot in my mouth didn't I?"  
  
Adrian gave a strange smile and walked a few feet toward his bike. "I don't mind Ron; it's good that I know more about my sister. Besides, I don't have a clean moral slate myself. So just tell me where I can find her and I'll be on my way."  
  
Kim was hesitant but she did make a deal. "Just find Dr. Drakken, you find him, Shego won't be very far."  
  
Adrian nodded and mounted his bike. After tying his belonging safely behind him, Kitsune began feeling strange vibes from his mind. In Adrian's form, he firmly put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Are you ok, Adrian?" he asked.  
  
Adrian simply took the helmet from Kitsune and slid it on; the expression on his face however, did not sit well at all with the shape shifter. "I'm just fine Kitsune," he said. But in Kitsune mind, a quick image of heavy rain appeared. "I'm just sorry this is where we part ways." Another image came, a girl's figure, a girl with long dark hair. "Goodbye everyone. it's finally time I reunited with my sister." As he drove off, Kitsune changed to its sexless, child-like form with the painted fox face as a final image creped into his mind from Adrian.  
  
(Adrian. I don't understand. why was there blood on her hands. and why do you hate her so?)  
  
THE END!!!  
  
This is the end of Warriors of the Mask, if you really want to see what happens next or if you would like to make a request for any other kind of  
Kim-Fic, don't hesitate!! 


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